Many modern communication networks are capable of exchanging packet based communications with other communication networks and communication devices. Some of these networks may employ deep packet inspection (DPI) equipment on some or all of the packets that travel through each respective network. DPI equipment allows a network to inspect the payload contents of packets that pass through the network. This packet inspection capability allows a network to gather information about the packets that the network is transporting in order to better manage the network.
While DPI equipment may have beneficial uses, such as for network management, the use of DPI may also raise privacy concerns. For example, DPI equipment may allow a network to obtain information from a user's packet traffic, such as usernames, passwords, and web addresses, which the user would want to keep private. While encrypting packet traffic that is transferred from a communication device may be a way to overcome DPI privacy concerns, the system or device that is receiving that packet traffic must also be equipped with the ability to decrypt the transferred packets. Thus, encrypting data may not always be available to protect private information from capture by DPI equipment.
Overview
Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for dividing packet content for transmission over diverse wireless links. In a particular embodiment, a method provides generating a packet for transmission to a destination and examining the packet to determine if content within the packet qualifies for transmission over diverse wireless links comprising a first wireless link and a second wireless link. The method further provides, if the content qualifies for transmission over the diverse wireless links, generating a first alternate packet that contains a first portion of the content and a second alternate packet that contains a second portion of the content. The method further provides transferring the first alternate packet over the first wireless link for delivery to the destination and transferring the second alternate packet over the second wireless link for delivery to the destination.